Jennifer Aniston Isn’t Ruling Out Kids

The never-ending fascination with Jennifer Aniston's personal life hasn't slowed down — even as she's (kind of) managed to back away from the paparazzi spotlight and the weekly tabloid news cycle — especially when it comes to the topic of motherhood.

The 49-year-old actress, who covers Elle’s January 2019 issue, opened up to the magazine about marriage and children, sharing that she’s still not ruling out the idea of having her own kiddos.

“Who knows what the future holds in terms of a child and a partnership – how that child comes in or doesn’t?” she said. “And now with the science and miracles, we can do things at different times than we used to be able to.”

Aniston has become a cultural icon for women who have pushed back against the traditional (and sexist) narrative that women need to settle down with a husband and a couple of kids in order to be happy. Back in 2014, she dismissed the idea during an appearance on the Today Show, saying “I don’t have this sort of checklist of things that have to be done, and … if they’re not checked, then I’ve failed some part of my feminism or my being a woman of my worth and my value as a woman.”

Then in 2016, the actress toldMarie Claire, “I have worked too hard in this life and this career to be whittled down to a sad, childless human.”

Even months after her February 2018 split with Justin Theroux, the star was still addressing fans' concerns, telling InStyle in her September cover story, “There is pressure on women to be mothers, and if they are not, then they are deemed damaged goods ... Maybe my purpose on this planet isn’t to procreate. Maybe I have other things I’m supposed to do?"

However, in the most recent Elle cover story, the Friends star admitted that the thought of having children has always been “kind of frightening,” revealing that she's questioned if she was even suited to be a mother.

“Some people are just built to be wives and have babies," she said. "I don’t know how naturally that comes to me."